The Watford-based firm’s investment in the printer, which it bought from Vutek resller CMYUK Digital for £400,000, follows its recent spend on Caldera’s Flow+ 2.0 wide-format workflow system earlier this year.
Rocket already runs two Vutek QS3200 printers. It made the investment in the 5m-wide roll-to-roll Vutek printer to meet its growing demand for high-quality giant-format work. It replaces an old Scitex printer which the firm is selling on.
“A lot of our clients want 5m now. It will open up new markets for us and also gives us the capability to print two rolls of vinyl at the same time,” said commercial director Antony Rider.
“We also wanted to have compatibility across all of our machines and it colour complements our 3m machines as well as increasing our firepower and flexibility.”
The printer will also reduce the number of seams and joins in the firm’s large jobs meaning that many will now be able to be printed in a single piece, which will reduce production costs.
“We can design things that are bigger and better, and it increases our flexibility and also means that less finishing is needed,” said Rider.
The Vutek GS5000r can produce colour-accurate results on a wide range of substrates and flexible materials. It can also produce outdoor billboard material at up to 288sqm/hr and run multiple jobs at once through its multi-queue functionality.
Rocket’s customers include agencies, end-users and trade sector clients. It has also produced event and exhibition display material for major events including last year’s Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium and the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
“The printer was installed three weeks ago and we’ve already had work for it. We’ve also got some big projects coming up for Farnborough Air Show, Silverstone and Renault,” said Rider.
The firm, which currently employs 40 staff and is taking on more in the next few months, has seen its turnover grow by 25% year-on-year in 2013 and forecasts similar growth for 2014.
It will invest in further equipment during the year and also plans to add an internal mezzanine extension to its current 1,161sqm premises, which will give the company an extra 465sqm of space.
